The MLB playoffs are set, which means everything done to this point means nothing. Any of the 10 remaining teams in the field has a chance to take home a World Series title; the only question is who will it be?
Although baseball doesn't quite have the reputation of March Madness with its drama, last year showed how crazy things can get compared to the regular season. The Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Angels had the best record in their leagues but were both knocked out in the first round. The World Series was then made up of wild-card teams in the Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants, with the Giants coming away as champions.
We don't know if this year will be a repeat of that, but you can be certain the best teams won't be expecting to just cruise to victory. Here is a look at the bracket for the entire playoffs as well as predictions throughout.
National League
It's truly a shame that the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs have to battle in a one-game elimination considering they have the second- and third-best records in baseball, respectively. When you win 97 games, it should take more than one loss to end your hopes of a title. In reality, both teams have that level of talent.
However, the game will come down to pitching and the unstoppable force that is Jake Arrieta:
Pirates starter Gerrit Cole has had a great year as well, but Arrieta and the Cubs have the skill to win on the road and advance to the National League Division Series. If they did accomplish that feat, they would be carrying a nine-game winning streak into their series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
Even at 100 wins and with a lot of postseason experience, advancing beyond the first round won't be easy. St. Louis is dealing with a number of key injuries that will either cost players the postseason or at least limit them. According to Jay Jaffee of Sports Illustrated, this includes losing stud pitcher Carlos Martinez for the year and holding back experienced players like Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright and Matt Holiday.
With a deep lineup full of young, talented hitters like Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo, the Cubs should be able to keep their momentum going with an upset over the Cardinals.
In the other division series, the challenge will be for the New York Mets to win three games when it's possible four of them will be against two of the best pitchers in the game. The Los Angeles Dodgers will use a lot of Zack Greinke (19-3 with 1.66 ERA this season) and Clayton Kershaw (2.13 ERA and 301 strikeouts), two players who will at the very least finish in the top three of the Cy Young voting, along with Arrieta.
A lot will be made about Kershaw's past postseason struggles (1-5 with 5.12 ERA), but the pure talent will eventually come through. Catcher A.J. Ellis believes the second-half success this season will help him perform well this October, via ESPN's Mark Saxon:
He didn’t get off to the start everyone expected, but he was able to right the ship and, in my opinion, become the most dominant pitcher in baseball the last three or four months of the season. Now we’re getting closer to the playoffs and, hopefully, he’ll have some chances to go out and confidently throw some really good games.
Fans should expect to see the regular-season version of Kershaw and Greinke in the postseason, which could be very scary for opponents.
Add this staff to a mix of veterans and young stars in the lineup, and the Dodgers have the tools to not only advance to the National League Championship Series but to the World Series.
American League
Dallas Keuchel hasn't been as good on the road this year (3.77 ERA compared to 1.46 at home), but his stuff has been unhittable at times and he's as good of an ace as the Houston Astros can hope for in this game. He should lead a team of players who are almost too young to be intimidated by the aura of Yankee Stadium in the Wild Card Game.
The confidence for this group is sky-high, and it should lead to a road victory in the winner-take-all game.
Unfortunately, a positive mindset won't be enough to beat the Kansas City Royals. The AL's best team by record was a dominant force from beginning to end and now surprisingly has an experience advantage over the rest of the AL, as noted by Joel Sherman of the New York Post:
Even without one real standout player, the lineup is deep, and anyone has the ability to come through with a clutch hit at the right time. With a .269 team batting average, there won't be any easy outs for opposing pitchers.
If the bullpen fares even half as well as last season, it could lead to a lot of late wins.
Still, all roads in the American League seem likely to go through the Toronto Blue Jays. While the Texas Rangers have been almost as hot in the second half of the year, the Blue Jays have just been crushing opponents with one of the best lineups in years.
The Jays finished the year with 891 runs, 127 more than the next most in baseball. The gap between them and the New York Yankees at No. 2 is greater than the gap from the Yankees to the No. 26 Cincinnati Reds.
MLB.com compiled scouting reports from opposing pitchers, and they don't seem too encouraging in ways to stop them:
[Jose Bautista] and Encarnacion are pretty similar. If you go in, you have to go in deep. It's more of an effect pitch but they want to swing the bat so they tend to swing at pitches out of the zone trying to do damage. You just try to stay away from the barrel. If they hit it, hopefully they hit it at somebody.
Hoping they hit it to a fielder is not the best strategy to win, but it's hard to imagine too many pitchers having better a plan. The offense is too good for anyone on the Rangers to stop, and the Royals will struggle as well with their mediocre starting pitching.
Like Kansas City last season, Toronto will go from an extended run without a playoff appearance right into the World Series.
World Series
The Dodgers and Blue Jays have different styles of play, but the star power in this World Series would certainly create an exciting matchup for fans. Interestingly, though, it might be a pitcher who's not quite as known among casual fans who makes a difference.
Marcus Stroman, who missed most of the year due to a torn ACL, has returned with four lights-out performances to end the year. It's a small sample size, but he finished the season 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 0.96 WHIP—the final three appearances 22 innings and just two runs allowed.
Bleacher Report's Stephen Meyer explained the impact this could have on the playoffs:
David Price and Stroman wouldn't exactly be Greinke and Kershaw, but they also don't have to face the elite Blue Jays lineup. This could swing those tough matchups in Toronto's favor. With the Dodgers also having more question marks in the bullpen, there could be a lot of late-game heroics from Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki and others.
The Blue Jays were the most aggressive team at the trade deadline and completely transformed the roster. That will pay off with a World Series title.
Prediction: Blue Jays def. Dodgers 4-1
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